The Beach!

We celebrated Camille's graduation this year by renting a condo in San Clemente, California for a week. It was perfect!  The beach was beautiful and only a 5 min walk away from our condo.  We loved having a relaxing week with no commitments.  We slept in everyday and read books in the morning.  The kids watched the Disney channel and ate sugar cereal.  After lunch we got sun blocked up and headed down to the beach for the afternoon.  I finally learned to boogie board and loved it!  All the kids braved the waves which is pretty impressive because they were a little rough that week. We took lots of seaside walks, enjoyed the pier and ate and ate... Scot and I had lots of mini "dates" to the grocery store and one real date to the restaurant on the pier.  The fish and chips were sooo good!

Can you tell we're from Utah?

Ryan loved digging in the sand.

George the 3rd

Bethany loved jumping in the waves if she had a hand to hold.

We took a good portion of the beach home with us in our pockets, shoes, bags and hair!

We visited Crystal Cove State Park to see all the tide pools.  We loved climbing on all the rocks at low tide. We found starfish, crabs, some little fish, anenomes, and lots of beautiful shells.

Scott loves the big waves!

What a cutie!

Carter hunting for sand crabs, they didn't have a chance!

Our other bathing beauty!

Our condo backed up to a beautiful little beach canyon.  We got to enjoy the birds and trees whenever we were home. We loved our home away from home!

Scott and I enjoyed visiting Mission San Juan Capistrano.  It was established in 1776 and still has a functioning chapel.   We loved learning the history and touring the beautiful gardens.

Ruins of the " Great Stone Church" which was leveled in an Earthquake in 1812  killing forty people.

The Serra Chapel.  I loved the peaceful feeling in the chapel.  I was reminded that God loves all his children.  The restoration and upkeep of the mission is obviously a labor of love for the Catholic community here.

The flower gardens are a modern addition.  Originally the mission had orchards and food gardens.

It's official, She's 18!

I can't believe it's here already,  My baby is all grown up!  It doesn't seem that long ago that she was a cute toddler with adorable cheeks.  Camille has been a delight, we are so blessed to have her in our family!

 Can't go off to college without Scrabble...

Since Camille can't take any more books to BYU she decided to splurge her B-day money on cute clothes.  She may be a stressed student, but at least she'll be a cute, well dressed one!

If Camille is involved there will be cheesecake.  

Celebrating with friends!

Yellowstone!

This year the Butler family reunion was in Island Park, Idaho.  Mom and Dad found a great cabin where we could all stay.  It was super fun to spend time with family!  The cousins loved to hang out together.  We enjoyed visiting Yellowstone, watching movies, yummy meals, chatting and of course nap time!  We missed having Laura and Ed, Carol and Troy and Philip there.

Carter had all the cousins climbing the walls much to their parents delight...

Old Faithful

Artist paint pots.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  It's a really pretty spot.  We loved hearing the mud pots bubble, gurgle and pop.

We liked seeing the herd of moose at Mammoth Springs.  They were totally unafraid of people and were napping in the shade and wandering about.  The rangers were babysitting making sure no one got too close.  We ate lunch here, and my kids liked trying to catch  the ground squirrels.  I think they enjoyed sneaking up on the squirrels more than the moose.  Funny what catches their interest...

 Dads make great pillows.

 Wayne and Deena and their cute family

 We did a lot of driving, getting in and out of the car, and exploring all the interesting sights at Yellowstone.  Coordinating a larger group in four vehicles proved challenging.  When we stopped at "Old Faithful" for a picnic lunch my family was getting tired.  Just when I thought the cousins were going to have a group meltdown (or I was...) they rediscovered a time honored pastime - Teeter-Toter!

We just love this boy and his amazing hair!

Rex and Mark at Yellowstone Falls